First of all, a plug for tonight’s final Vision Event for the Thriving Faith Campaign. 6 to 8 tonight. And there will be pizza. This is a great chance to connect and learn before the celebration on Sunday.
Now, to muse… As a minister, I kind of see myself as a public theologian. My job is to think out loud about where God is to be found within life and the world as it is. So my heart and mind kind of swing back and forth between “on the ground” concerns that we all have about securing housing, getting older, finding time for the things and people we love, worrying about our kids or our parents, making supper, raking leaves, booking the furnace guy… and the big questions like how to love the way Jesus loved, how to trust God with our future when I am worried, what might God have to say about the climate, and how can the church embody “all-embracing love” in a polarized world? It is like I go through life zooming in on the day-to-day and zooming out to catch a glimpse of the big picture.
As we come to the end of Jesus Economics we will be reading that classic story when they tried to trip Jesus up and snare him in a political debate, “is it right for a self-respecting Jew to pay taxes to Caesar?” That was both a day-to-day question and a philosophical one, but it was politically charged. If he said yes, he would be in trouble with the resistance movements. If he said no, he would be in trouble with the Romans and those who had managed to accommodate Rome. He springs the trap by zooming out and saying, “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God.” And everyone knows that it all belongs to God.
In “Jesus Economics” we own nothing- it all belongs to God. Caesar, the TSX, and the land titles branch may make out like any of it has private ownership attached, but zoom out for a bit. Ultimately it all belongs to God. Everything else is temporary. Our job is to let some of it run through our fingers in loving ways.
Blessings, Will